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Review
'Another day, another Star Wars book, but this one does a rare thing — concentrate on the film itself rather than its mythos. There's thoughtful stuff, suggesting SW continues Lucas' development as an experimental filmmaker and arguing that Lucas is rooting for both Empire and rebellion.' - Empire
'For once, a scholarly study that doesn't tut and moan about merchandising and the death of New Hollywood... Its clear, concise arguments include a taut dismissal of the prequels that doesn't resort to Binks-bashing.' - Total Film
Product Description
The release of Star Wars in 1977 marked the start of what would become a colossal global franchise. Star Wars remains the second highest-grossing film in the United States, and George Lucas's six-part narrative has grown into something more: a culture that goes far beyond the films themselves, with tie-in toys, novels, comics, games and DVDs as well as an enthusiastic fan community which creates its own Star Wars fictions. Critical studies of Star Wars have treated it as a cultural phenomenon, or in terms of its special effects, fans and merchandising, or as a film that marked the end of New Hollywood's innovation and the birth of the blockbuster.
Will Brooker's illuminating study of the film takes issue with many of these commonly-held ideas about Star Wars. He provides a close analysis of Star Wars as a film, carefully examining its shots, editing, sound design, cinematography and performances. Placing the film in the context of George Lucas's previous work, from his student shorts to his 1970s features, and the diverse influences that shaped his approach, from John Ford to Jean-Luc Godard, Brooker argues that Star Wars is not, as Lucas himself has claimed, a departure from his earlier cinema, but a continuation of his experiments with sound and image. He reveals Lucas's contradictory desires for total order and control, embodied by the Empire, and for the raw energy and creative improvisation of the Rebels. What seemed a simple fairy-tale becomes far more complex when we realise that the director is rooting for both sides; and this tension unsettles the saga as a whole, blurring the boundaries between Empire and Republic, dark side and light side, father and son.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a book that takes Episode IV apart and explains it to you in details you never thought of. George Lucas's previous films and his character are compared and contrasted. The Empire is all about neatness and clean lines whilst the Rebels are ramshackle. So Princess Leia and C3PO are in their proper environment when they're in the Death Star, but ultimately the ramshackle rebels take it down. The two sides in the war are all part of George Lucas's psyche.
This is the one part of the book which has stuck in my mind more than any other. It's a very entertaining read and if you love the film - or the original trilogy - you should definitely read it.
This is the one part of the book which has stuck in my mind more than any other. It's a very entertaining read and if you love the film - or the original trilogy - you should definitely read it.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Most of these BFI monographs meander between fannish gushing and a grade B student essay and bring very little new analysis to the table. Will Brooker's Star Wars thankfully does not lean this way and is the best of this series I've yet to read. As Brooker writes in the introductory chapter, there is a huge wealth of written material on Star Wars, but there is almost a total absence of critical film analysis, the only serious writings being ones which concentrate on the film as cultural phenomenon and more often than not do this with the judgment that the film is flimsy and inconsequential as a piece of film art.
The book looks at the film in terms of George Lucas as an auteur, particularly focussing on him regarding himself as being an experimental, solitary filmmaker (despite working within the Hollywood system) and examining the film within the context of both his early experimental work and his latter mainstream work. It also examines the editing and composition of shots in the film and how they were influenced by many classic works in the cinema, appropriating many of its shots tooth and nail from earlier classic films like The Searchers and 633 Squadron - one interesting point is that the Death Star sequence was derived from a montage of old war movie dogfights which Lucas edited together to show what he wanted.
Its an interesting read and it is likely that both the fan and the serious student of film will learn something new from this book.
The book looks at the film in terms of George Lucas as an auteur, particularly focussing on him regarding himself as being an experimental, solitary filmmaker (despite working within the Hollywood system) and examining the film within the context of both his early experimental work and his latter mainstream work. It also examines the editing and composition of shots in the film and how they were influenced by many classic works in the cinema, appropriating many of its shots tooth and nail from earlier classic films like The Searchers and 633 Squadron - one interesting point is that the Death Star sequence was derived from a montage of old war movie dogfights which Lucas edited together to show what he wanted.
Its an interesting read and it is likely that both the fan and the serious student of film will learn something new from this book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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2 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Star Wars - Finally Taken Seriously (Academically)
8 Oct 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A through analysis of Star Wars from an academic standpoint (something sorely lacking in terms of Lucas's film). While much of the writing about Star Wars over the past 3o years has discussed its revolutionary special effects of its blockbuster status, Brooker analyzes Star Wars in terms of what it was for George Lucas the auteur director. In his early career, Lucas longed to be a maverick, separate from Hollywood and in control of his own projects. His first two experiences with the Hollywood system (THX-1138 and American Graffiti) left Lucas with a soured perspective of Hollywood. He began Star Wars by attempting to fashion a troupe of talented people all working together to create something that would out-do Hollywood at its own game. However, Brooker traces that in doing so, and so fiercely attempting to retain his control, Lucas's desire to create band of rebels gradually turns him into the empire itself as he must reign over and control an unruly cast, crew and special effects department. Brooker also examines Lucas's fascination with objects rather than people and demonstrates that Lucas, like the empire, prefers things that are cold and impersonal, less human, but longs for the wild improvisational spirit of creativity found in the rebels. Brooker's book demonstrates that Star Wars is a much more complex film that originally gleaned by demonstrating that Lucas, as the writer/director/editor, is identifying with both sides and while the narrative the film demonstrates a clear victory of the film, Lucas's direction does not reveal such a clear cut winner
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
More Gray than Black & White
10 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It is telling that books in the BFI (British Film Institute) classic series formally take the title of the same film which it critiques without any subtitle, for Brooker's monograph critiques Star Wars, the original blockbuster, not Star Wars: A New Hope, the first film of six viewed within an eventual 20-year context.
And, indeed, Star Wars is a worthy addition to a very limited field of books and essays that critically look at the Star Wars films from an independent perspective, and not that simply of a fanboy or that of a Star Wars affiliate like [...] or a franchise like Lucasbooks or Wizards of the Coast. Brooker is not only a respected professor in popular culture, but also fan of those other popular expressions that inform modern adventure films. Things like comics, radio serials, television, as well as art, literature, and cinema. And behind him stands the British Film Institute and the proper vetting and rigor that is required for the inclusion of another addition to the BFI film classics series.
Brooker's monograph looks at the original film with a particular look at George Lucas the avant-garde filmmaker and the influences that inform the rebel versus empire theme within the first movie. Unlike the many interviews Lucas has given over several decades, Lucas cannot re-interprete the influences on him and the original film. Instead, Booker looks at the visual influences on Star Wars and the pretensions of Lucas as a director and editor pre-Episode IV. His supporting evidence is so good that it even impresses the many die-hard fans that are quite familiar with the body of Lucas interviews and early critical reviews of the film.
Those that are looking for a more comprehensive look at this film are directed to Rinzler's The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film, but for those who want a critical look from a particular perspective, as true academic criticism is supposed to, then researchers and Star Wars lovers alike should pick up Brooker's book and add it to their library.
For those who see Star Wars as simply black & white, Brooker's essay is required reading for commentary on the "gray" of the film which not only makes Star Wars a little more critically understood and not simply a modern fairy tale, but the "gray" which explains intellectually the raw feelings that make its fans love the very movie itself.
And, indeed, Star Wars is a worthy addition to a very limited field of books and essays that critically look at the Star Wars films from an independent perspective, and not that simply of a fanboy or that of a Star Wars affiliate like [...] or a franchise like Lucasbooks or Wizards of the Coast. Brooker is not only a respected professor in popular culture, but also fan of those other popular expressions that inform modern adventure films. Things like comics, radio serials, television, as well as art, literature, and cinema. And behind him stands the British Film Institute and the proper vetting and rigor that is required for the inclusion of another addition to the BFI film classics series.
Brooker's monograph looks at the original film with a particular look at George Lucas the avant-garde filmmaker and the influences that inform the rebel versus empire theme within the first movie. Unlike the many interviews Lucas has given over several decades, Lucas cannot re-interprete the influences on him and the original film. Instead, Booker looks at the visual influences on Star Wars and the pretensions of Lucas as a director and editor pre-Episode IV. His supporting evidence is so good that it even impresses the many die-hard fans that are quite familiar with the body of Lucas interviews and early critical reviews of the film.
Those that are looking for a more comprehensive look at this film are directed to Rinzler's The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film, but for those who want a critical look from a particular perspective, as true academic criticism is supposed to, then researchers and Star Wars lovers alike should pick up Brooker's book and add it to their library.
For those who see Star Wars as simply black & white, Brooker's essay is required reading for commentary on the "gray" of the film which not only makes Star Wars a little more critically understood and not simply a modern fairy tale, but the "gray" which explains intellectually the raw feelings that make its fans love the very movie itself.
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